What is it, how do you find it, and what does it do for you? I am certainly no expert to talk about intuition, except for my own experience. But guess what? That’s enough! People fear intuition believing that it’s voodoo, unclear, not reliable, psychic and weird. But what if we thought about intuition like this: a sense within us that connects our physical and spiritual worlds?

Just like other sensory receptors, your intuition lives within you. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “I feel it in my gut” or “a little voice in my head is telling me…” One of the skills required to trust your intuition is to know where your intuition is coming from. Take a few minutes to be quiet first thing in the morning and be still. Get out a journal and write whatever comes to your mind. Or, the next time you sense something, like your mother is getting ready to call and then, RING!, let your body tell you where that information is coming from. When you know this, you can feel that familiar feeling that is telling you something and you will know it is you and you can trust it. Like the other five senses, your intuition is a gift of life that lives inside of you and is exclusively yours. No one else in the world will ever know what your intuition is telling you or how it feels.

Let’s think about another sense, say, taste. We trust that we know what an apple tastes like. If you’ve only had one variety of apples before, your palate might be confused when it tastes an apple like a granny smith. Some people are adventurous and explore a variety of apples, and foods! By doing this, the palate becomes sophisticated and can decipher a multitude of flavors. The same is true with intuition. With use, testing, and an adventurous spirit, you can expand your level of intuition using methods that develop a trust within yourself and your inner voice.

Using your intuition can come in handy. The only thing I would suggest before declaring to the world you know everything about everything is this: make sure your intuition is clear and pure. There is so much static in the world, noise, confusion and craziness in our lives at times that it can be hard to listen to a pure feeling. We may think we are “knowing” something, but depending on our level of connectedness, our fear, the noise in our mind, we may or may not be onto something.

Intuition is to be listened to, not to be feared. When we are deeply connected to our self, our higher wisdom will guide us.